


Breathe Into My Hands

by fromthebeginningthen



Series: Winter Verse [2]
Category: 1917 (Movie 2019)
Genre: Autistic William Schofield, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Established Relationship, F/F, Fluff, Genderswap
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-13
Updated: 2020-12-13
Packaged: 2021-03-10 17:07:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,363
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28050651
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fromthebeginningthen/pseuds/fromthebeginningthen
Summary: Willow and Blake go out Christmas shopping, but Willow is quite sensitive to the cold.Blakefield Winter Wonderland: Day 13, Warming Cold Hands With Warm Ones
Relationships: Tom Blake/William Schofield
Series: Winter Verse [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2041426
Comments: 4
Kudos: 8
Collections: Walking In A Blakefield Wonderland





	Breathe Into My Hands

**Author's Note:**

> The second installment in this lil sapphic verse of mine!
> 
> Tw: it's not described in heavy detail, but Willow gets close to having sensory overload.

The next two weeks were brutal as the weather predictions about the rest of December came to fruition. Willow did her best to stay warm inside, but they could only use the fireplace sparingly, since it burned real wood and the bundles were expensive in frequent use.

With no let up, her sensory issues just made things even more difficult. Willow was in constant battle between dressing warmly enough to tolerate the weather outside and dressing light enough that she didn’t feel suffocated or that her skin was crawling. She couldn’t tell which felt worse, so she found herself switching between the two options. 

Sometimes she even came home with a few of her layers clutched in her hands, removed in the bathroom before leaving her workplace.

Blake was doting and empathetic, so Willow tried her best to hide most of the discomfort from her. She didn’t want Blake to worry about her all the time, or feel like she had to do more to help. There wasn’t much to do to help. Sometimes things just sucked and Willow had to get through it.

With Christmas approaching, however, they really needed to buy gifts for their families. Blake had suggested they make it an evening out, walking along the shops and getting to peer in all the window displays. Blake posed this as a question, only wanting to do it if Willow was on board.

The thing was, Willow wouldn’t say no to her for this. She’d already said no to every date idea that would take them outside the flat this month. She felt bad and she wanted to do this for Blake. It would be horribly crowded with tourists and locals alike, dreadfully cold, and visually chaotic. But Willow thought about the excitement Blake would have, and so she said yes.

Willow dressed lighter for the expedition, figuring that the extra cold would be easier to handle than the feeling of accidentally bumping into everyone from the bulk of her heavier coat. This way, she could maneuver around them like a soldier would the cramped space of a trench. 

Willow did fine for the first couple hours. She let Blake lead her around by the hand, content to go wherever she wanted. Each time they came to the front of a window display, Blake would cup her hands against the glass to peer in clearer. She would take in the gaudy decorations and train sets and tiny towns, then look back at Willow with a smile so big both her dimples were showing.

It was actually one of Blake’s dreams, to build her own small town every year. She told Willow about the one her dad set up that spanned the entire length of their dining room table. She got to watch different buildings and figurines be added as she grew up, giving each of them a backstory for their place in that makeshift world.

The reason Blake hadn’t started one of her own, is that she didn’t have a stable place of living after moving out. She moved frequently between flatmates, all people she met at university. But now, she had been living with Willow for half a year, and dating her even longer.

Willow decided she was going to buy Blake her first set of ceramic houses for Christmas, as if to say, “Hey, I see us going steady if you do.” She hoped the message would come across.

After a while, when Blake’s arms were full of gift bags and Willow’s mind was filled with a list she would order online later, the atmosphere had finally gotten to be  _ too much _ . She was shivering uncontrollably and she didn’t know where to focus her eyes and she jumped whenever someone near her started laughing too loudly or raising their voice to be heard over the cacophony of noise that was the crowd.

Blake noticed immediately the first time she glanced back at Willow, and instead of being greeted by her soft smile, she saw Willow looking around them. A bit wide eyed, and mouth pulled into a slight frown. Blake recognized it as Willow’s panic, and made her way over to her. 

She took Willow’s hands in her own and asked, “Are you okay?”   


Willow had to concentrate to process the question and answer. She shook her head no.

Blake gave her a reassuring smile and said, “We’ll go somewhere quiet, follow me.”

With that, she led Willow by the hand again, this time sticking closer to her side and asking people to make room for them as they passed by. Blake’s target was a shop across the street with less people gathered around the window display. She figured it would have less people inside it than the other shops, and she was right.

They stepped inside and it was immediately warmer and quieter. They were out of the wind and the worst of the noise was muted by the doors closing behind them.

Willow still looked lost, so Blake walked them to the cashier. She boldly spoke over the patron who was first in line and said, “Hi, my girlfriend is autistic which means she gets sensory overload sometimes. Do you have a bathroom or quiet room we could go to to relax for a little bit? I promise we’ll be out of your hair soon!”

The cashier looked confused, but conceded to Blake’s request and led them to a staff breakroom through the door behind the cashier’s counter. They probably felt it was easier to agree than waste time getting more information, since there was still a busy line at the front counter.

Blake was grateful regardless. Businesses weren’t always so accommodating.

The break room was quiet, filled only with a table, some chairs, lockers for the employees, and a coffee machine in the corner. Blake led Willow to the table and set her gift bags on the floor while Willow sat down.

Blake noticed Willow was still shivering, so she blessed whoever was up there that her hands always ran warm. She removed her gloves then pulled Willow’s off as well. She took Willow’s hands gently in her own and was shocked at how cold they felt. She brought them up to her face to blow warm breath across the knuckles and rubbed them together, trying to get feeling back into them.

She began pressing kisses to them as she worked and looked up when she heard Willow’s breath hitch. Blake’s heart clenched when she saw Willow had started crying.

“I’m sorry,” Willow said. “I’m sorry.”

Blake moved her hands to Willow’s cheeks and kissed her forehead. “Shh, none of that.”

“I wanted you to have a good time.”

“I had a  _ great _ time. I even bought everything I needed, the rest is just window shopping.”

It broke her heart to hear Willow blame herself for ending their day out, as if she had any control over when her body had had enough. Blake continued to warm up Willow’s hands and it seemed to help since she stopped crying after a bit. 

Blake asked if Willow wanted pressure, and when she nodded, Blake pulled them up to standing and wrapped her arms around her girlfriend in a hug. She tightened her hold until Willow sighed into the pressure, satisfied at the sensory input.

Willow had described it to Blake as grounding, tethering her to her body and calming the storm in her head. Blake was happy to be able to give that to her.

They stayed like that until Willow pulled away and announced that she was ready to leave.

The two of them didn’t meander around once they got outside again. Blake led them far enough from the crowd of shoppers that she could hail a taxi and get them home.

In the car, Willow turned to her and said, “I’ll have to comfort you the next time you forget something important. Then we can call it even.”

Her eyes were shining with mirth, and Blake knew she was mostly joking. Not joking about the comfort, but joking about it making them even. They would always be there for the other, no matter the circumstances.

**Author's Note:**

> Title comes from the song Glass Vase, Cello Case by Tattle Tale.
> 
> Any comments and kudos are greatly appreciated! I love writing for these two girlfriends!


End file.
